Connected to the Cornerstone

CBN.com - President George Washington laid the cornerstone of the White House on this day in 1792. Washington and Charles L'Enfant, the French-born planner of the capital city, had chosen the site.

Congress selected a design submitted by James Hoban, an Irish immigrant architect, who modeled his plan after Leister House in Dublin. Hoban's design beat out several proposals, including the one Thomas Jefferson submitted.

In November 1800, President John Adams and his wife, Abigail, moved into the "Presidential Palace." People began to call the mansion the White House around 1809 because of the sharp contrast between its white-gray sandstone and the nearby red brick buildings.

President Theodore Roosevelt officially adopted the term in 1902. During the War of 1812, British troops burned the White House, but it was rebuilt and reoccupied in 1817.

God prophecied through Isaiah that he would place a foundation stone in Jerusalem, "a precious cornerstone that is safe to build on" (Isaiah 28:16). Zechariah specified that this cornerstone would come from the tribe of Judah.

Hundreds of years later, Jesus identified Himself as this stone that had been rejected by the builders, or Israel, but had become the cornerstone (Matthew 21:42).

In Ephesians 2:20-21, Paul explains that all believers are part of the holy temple that God is building. This temple is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, and Christ Jesus is the cornerstone. In ancient buildings, the cornerstone was laid as a guide to line up the rest of the structure. We need to make sure that our life lines up with Christ and his teachings. There is no other cornerstone that is safe to build on. What cornerstone are you building on?

This Devotion is taken from The One Year On This Day Devotion.

(Tyndale House Publishers)
 © 2005 Dianne Neal Matthews

Dianne Neal Matthews’ publishing credits include magazine articles, Devotions, and newspaper features. Her work has won several awards, including the 2006 Writer of the Year Award at the Write-to-Publish Conference in Wheaton, Illinois. She and her husband, Richard, have been married thirty-two years and have three grown children and one granddaughter. Dianne is currently working on The One Year Women of the Bible Devotion scheduled for release by Tyndale in August 2007.

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